Re: Mouse model of sclerosing cholangitis

[Guest guest]

That is very interesting - does anyone know enough about nutrition to

know which foods contain (or lead the body to create) cholic acid?

Thanks,

Nina in Philly

A new study (below) shows that cholic acid

> feeding aggravates liver injury in these abcb4 knock-out mice, and

> that urso provokes less damage, as assessed by changes of

> inflammatory gene and fibrosis-related gene expression.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting this Dave, I have been waiting and waiting for news from him.Here's hoping for more developments as this seems very encouraging.Lee Trauner's group has previously shown that mice deficient in the Abcb4 gene encoding a phosopholipid (phosphatidylcholine) transporter, develop sclerosing cholangitis that is similar to human PSC. You may recall that he used this mouse model to show that nor-urso is superior to urso in preventing bile duct injury in these mice. You may also recall that expression of this transporter is activated by PPAR-alpha, which is in turn activated by fibrates (and likely also by fish oils). This may be the explanation for the beneficial effects of fibrates (and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) in cholestatic liver diseases like PBC, PSC and liver disease associated with cystic fibrosis. A new study (below) shows that cholic acid feeding aggravates liver injury in these abcb4 knock-out mice, and that urso provokes less damage, as assessed by changes of inflammatory gene and fibrosis-related gene expression. _________________________________